


Close Encounter

by colitas



Series: Little One [1]
Category: Warframe
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Second Chances, Second Dream & War Within spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2018-11-16 01:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11243583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colitas/pseuds/colitas
Summary: Another day, another mission.That was all it was supposed to be.Cinematic spoilers ahoy.





	1. Bubbles

**Author's Note:**

> Heavy spoilers for the cinematic quests. 
> 
> First fic over here.

 

_Your heart's too big for your body_

  
_That's why it won't fit inside_

  
_You pour it out_

  
_Where everyone can see_

 

 _Crybaby_ by Melanie Martinez

 

 

Flana hated the Void.

While she was so comfortable, so _familiar_ with the eerie presence of emptiness, it was what caused her to end up like this. Centuries lost in cryostasis and now stranded in the warring system crawling with the greedy Corpus and the gruff Grineer.

Let's not talk about the Infested.

The Infested scared her.

Who wasn't?

Void energy made her Tenno but Tenno or not, Flana was always ready to burst into tears. Especially after finding her true self as a mere child, not the feared warriors.

As if memories of faded faces and the gruesome routines of missions were not enough.

Not to mention Stalker and Hunhow working together.

 _Stalking_ her.

Yeah.

Her emotions were not to blame, Margulis used to tell her a long time ago. Soothing her with her ever gentle voice, she would encourage her instead.

_Your compassion, your tears are a gift._

Flana didn't understand.

How could crying be a talent?

Whenever meeting her Tenno family, they would jokingly tell her what Margulis meant. Flana was the perfect Banshee operator, jesting how her cries would stunn lancers and crewmen for miles around.

She would laugh along because that made her feel better and the world look just a little bit sillier.

Yet they all knew that wasn't it.

Flana could cry. And for anyone.

For her Tenno.

For her Warframe.

For her enemy.

Whenever she burst tears in a mission, Ordis would frizzle up in awkward attempts of comfort, Trarue her Huras Kubrow would whine by her Warframe and Lotus could be heard sighing softly through the comm. link.

A Nekros Tenno described her as a bubble. All teary, creepily vibrant cyan eyes, ready to burst. Bubbles became her unofficial codename that everyone nodded at.

Yet she was **Tenno**.

Despite all the tears she shed, she held on.

She fought and persisted.

Even though she acknowledged how she didn't really have the right to judge and decide what was wrong or right, Flana would finish her missions because she tried to make the best out of the sickening situation the Origin System had gotten into.

In order to be able to actually fight back whatever that rushed at them, she needed power.

That the dreaded Void was her source and only power that made her special made her hate it.

And what, save the System?

She had already lost so much.

_Her Dad, her Mom, her sibling._

Flana hated the Void.

Yet again, she was on another mission to the Void.

She felt like crying.

Then again, knowing Flana she probably would.


	2. Sabotage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flana dreads the Void, where today's mission is headed.

Just as every Orbiter of a Tenno, Flana's was no different.

A foundry, an arsenal, a Tenno network connector, stasis pod for companions. Maybe not so normal with that Infected chair and a really broken but lovable Cephalon. Nonetheless, the somewhat vacant craft was enjoying the rare peace and quiet with its Tenno being on the ready at bay list at the moment.

Tenno Flana was snoozing as she curled into herself, the Somachord replaying the softer tunes Ocatavia had registered in the otherwise silent Orbiter. Unsurprisingly it didn't last long.

Every now and then Ordis would merrily call out to his lovely Operator with a report or alert of some sort. When the Lotus gave a direct mission for Flanna to deal with, she would contact the Tenno herself. Sometimes.

Today Flana's nap was interrupted by Ordis for yet another mission.

"Operator! Reporting Grineer squadrons mining and toying with Void Portals." At the sight of Flana stretching her arms and rubbing sleep out of her eyes in obvious sleepiness, the Cephalon's voice lowered into a gentler tone. "Idiots have no idea what damage they're doing. It seems you'll visit an Orokin Tower today!"

"Thanks, Ordis... Who's coming with?" Flana asked aloud with a pouting face but only blinked at a denial.

"Well, no one actually. It will be a solo, which I am -  ** _cErTain_**  - you will do wonderfully!" Just as his praising attitude returned, he paused. "Would you like to post for backup to the nearest relay?"

"Ah, maybe…Just in case."

Flana chuckled nervously.

Another Void mission.

_why_

 

* * *

 

 

Flana took her most trusted Warframe.

Frost heeded her call and got prepared right away. Painted with the darkest navy and white with the occasional cyan strokes, the bulky being solemnly worked at the arsenal . Behind his fancy syandana, his Operator could glimpse a peek of a matching color scheme.

Meh, probably the Dex Sybaris again. Frost was obsessed with that rifle ever since the Lotus had gifted Flana the unnecessarily ornate thing. He now aimed for that Conclave skin and it made her groan since she'd rather spar Keshin herself.

Not that she stopped him from doing it.

Flana made a slight groan before shaking herself awake. The Operator stepped down onto her feet from her usual floating and approached the kennel for her own preparations. Noticing his owner's approach, Traeu stretched his furry limbs and stood up to greet the familiar smelling being.

A huge whine slipped from the kubrow when he noticed the smaller master's workings on his shelter machine. Automatic feeding meant possible trips of entire days. The Tenno apologized as she slipped some treats into his snout eagerly burrowing into her palm. The Operator loved cuddling her chestnut canine, shuffling his azure-patterned chest like she was doing at the moment.

She didn't want to lose him.

Perhaps, a Limbo would be able to perceive with their more attuned senses any abnormalities near the Void. Frost nor Flana were not as sensitive and not even Limbos could guarantee safety from the Void's energy. They were just more used to the sudden energy charging spatial thing.

The small girl hugged the still unconvinced pet, who disapproved her leave - the savory bribe still stuck between his fangs.

_So afraid, so pathetic._

The Void terrified her for the loss and the power it forced onto her. Flana was certain He wouldn't think twice in corrupting the pup, just to see her reaction.

Yet nothing would happen.

For Flana the crybaby was obvious and predictable, He left her alone.

…right?

 

* * *

 

The Void was an illogical mess.

Flana hated it for more personal reasons.

Yet duty grabbed her collar and threw her into the Orokin's pristine and golden corridors full of Corrupted to fill her quota as Tenno.

It was the Lotus's decision to dispatch her to one that was so often looted that it had been deemed as the training course for those freshly released from cryostasis. Confidence training, _right_.

Frost didn't mind the whining Operator.

He understood and obeyed.

The ice Warframe glided to the opposite wall with light feet and with his Euphona Prime out with his right, elegantly sniped a Corrupted's skull with a single slug. Another thrust into the air and roll and he was back into his sprinting course dancing past the oblivious patrolling troops.

[Tenno, the enemy are using a Void key and a portable torsion beam device to force open the portal. Destroy the key and the device.] The Lotus interrupted the stealthy atmosphere in her comm. line and Flana glanced around her map which was expanding with Frost's every swift step.

She had been here plenty of times to remember where each door could lead to but it was her intuition that really made her missions a tad easier to navigate. Gut instincts, she'd prefer over Void senses.

Frost, like always, patiently listened.

Turning a right and a somersault as commanded, Frost immediately collected the moist and Void into his swing for an Avalanche to clear the deck of any enemies. Shrieks of terror were frozen into silence only to be cracked into a million pieces and otherwise shot down. His Hellios would have cunningly taken that short moment to scan any unknown artifacts but it wasn't present. Too bad Traeu was _hmmm_ , very Loki in that aspect.

Frost knocked the generator's frame he had been deftly hacking that brought Flana's attention instantly back.

_Welp, mission. Right._

One flick of fingers achieved the first step of getting the portal generators started and the Lotus approved. Nodding to her instructions of keeping the incoming Grineer and Corrupted off the machine, Flana focused once more in creating a Snow Globe for cover. 

"Tenno _skoom!_ "

Bullets, crude and rusty, rained to as the growling Troopers rushed in angrily through the Void Portal. Ironic considering the difference in civilization and technology between the Orokin and Grineer. The Tenno briefly mused about where she and her family were kept at Lua after miraculously surviving the Zariman - a small quarantine building to separate the Void Demons away from the safety of the beloved citizens - yet it was so grand and majestic compared to anything Flana had been to ever since her awakening. She recalled how every room, every corner of that ivory cage suffocated her with just the atmosphere the perfectly symmetric walls oozed. 

Only her siblings' warmth was able to calm her down after encountering an Orokin.

Everything was so impeccable in the Orokin infrastructure that the gap between the Zariman's still burned into her mind made her choke. 

_On air that her **brother,** _

_so small and quiet he didn't deserve to become nothing,_

_not even given the chance to escape his own father_

_and he had been the **youngest** -_

_crack_

Something akin to lightning resounded the room and Flana stilled.

The sabotage mission had been going smooth, her Frost ridding of any hostile contact to the portal generators and the second one charging up nicely. Until that sound rang around the lonely Warframe in front of the Void Portal.

The unmistakable sound of chaos. 

[A Void Fissure? Now?] Even The Lotus sounded confused, albeit only a tiny tinge showing in her stoic voice. [Tenno, do you have a Void Relic?]

Flana didn't reply.

Frost didn't understand.

Something's wrong.

The Operator trusted her guts that helped her survive the Void, the Transference experiments, the Old War, Hunhow and the Stalker. Right now, her insides turned to stone. 

_crack_

The usual Corrupted transformphed into existence from the raw energy pulsing in the very air and as the newest wave of Grineer absorbed the tell-tale static of Corruption, Frost decided to step up his game. His punch to the ground triggered a Ice Wave to trip over the nearest grunts who persisted in making bullet holes on him but Flana had decided she also needed to do _something_. 

Devil minds, Ballas once sneered down at her.

Flana gritted her teeth and pulled that pulse of Void inside her to force it out and felt that sickening resonance of the Void energy overflowing off her. With a wince, she shut her eyes and gripped her hands.

[Tenno, what are you-]

Cyan orbs glowed alight as the young being released everything she could muster at the yelling squadrons that encircled her now limp Frost. Shining and fluttering beams of odd light penetrated the Corrupted flesh and the punishment was heavy enough that the brainwashed beings moaned and stalled in agonizing pain. The moment Flana felt her energy seeping she breathed in nonexistent air and returned into her corporeal self. 

_crack_

Frost lashed out his blade as he set one foot to stand with a coughing Operator and a scolding Lotus in his comm. relay. His agile limbs didn't hesitate in switching into his Dex Sybaris and blasting off any knocked off troops who couldn't even grunt to the pain of the cut. 

A maniacal laughter informed the Warframe of another squad incoming only to be knocked off and incinerated by ambushing projectiles. Frost immediately raised his fist to garner another cluster of any moisture he could only to be shot in the forearm. Flana squirmed at the pain setting her on fire and even the Lotus' words were shut out with the immensity of the bullet and burns. 

_crack_

[The polarity has been reversed. Travel through the portal!]

Ominous cracks of chaos that resounded at her ears warned her not to but she had no choice. She never did.

With Frost's muscles barely supporting her, Flana felt her eyes get moist as she forced another Avalanche that killed off everything in the room. Grabbing his beloved rifle, Frost smashed the ice statues on his hasty way to the Void portal that upped its gleaming golden eye. 

Flana decided to time her entrance right because the random sparks of the Void Fissure didn't sound good at all, not with the constant roar of the portal's generator.

_crack_

[Tenno!!]

Or she wished so when another fissure exploded behind them and morphed a barrel of a shotgun at the back of Frost's skull. Screaming aloud by now, Flana and Frost tried to Freeze the grunt that _had to appear behind them_.

**_crack_ **

**_bang_ **

**_crunch_ **

Just as Frost's body recoiled into the portal, his ice beam activated to Freeze the Crewan's organs which were simultaneously regenerated by the Void pulse from the fissure.

Poor Flana didn't have time to leak her tears of horror.

 

* * *

 

 

"....Operator?" 

Only the fading static sparks indicated that something happened in the empty pod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The night I finished like two chapters my phone was stolen and it had everything inside
> 
> hope they eat rotten stuff and get sick
> 
> I DON'T KNOW BACKGROUNDS OKAY SORRY
> 
> thanks for the kudos!!

**Author's Note:**

> Going slow. Thanks.


End file.
